Welcome to our website where you can follow our family as we spend a Year Abroad In… Australia

Two weeks ago we finally managed to secure a place of our own.We will be living on the Central Coast by the beach and moving in next weekend.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had struggled to find a place in Mt Eliza in Melbourne.There were very few properties on the market in the area we were interested in and they were either in a dreadful state or above our budget.The few we applied for were given to other tenants.The fact we were in Sydney and either had to travel to Melbourne for viewings or ask our friend in Melbourne to do the viewings on our behalf (neither was an ideal scenario) didn’t help our search.

Slowly and reluctantly at first we started considering other options.Sydney was too expensive for our budget.We wanted to live close to the beach and in Sydney that was impossible for us.John’s brother lives on the Central Coast and one of the reasons to be in Australia was to connect with John’s family. So we started looking on the Central Coast for properties.The Central Coast is a popular place not too far from Sydney.

Actually, the majority of people who live on the Central Coast commute to work in Sydney on a daily basis.It can be a long commute sometimes up to 2 hours each way!Add on to that an additional 20mins drive to the station and a large portion of the day can be taken up in transit.But it is all worth it for sea lovers and surfing fanatics that they can enjoy weekends in the sea and the great weather Central Coast offers.Many people including John’s brother go surfing, paddle boarding or sea kayaking before work.The deputy principal at Lily’s school told us kids would often come into school late because they had been for a swim or surf before school.